Source: KPBS.com
Traumatic Brain Injury has been called the signature injury of the Iraq war. Nationwide, studies suggest 300,000 returning veterans experience the symptoms of Traumatic Brain Injury or TBI. In San Diego, the V.A. Medical Center reports about 50 veterans a month present at the TBI clinic for testing.
For those who find themselves changed in ways they cannot explain, a diagnosis of TBI is the beginning of a long road to recovery. Sage Bird is a young woman who is on that road.
Sage is a slight woman. Her hair is cut short like a boy’s and her eyes have a clarity and vulnerability that is striking. She turns 25 years old this month.
Sage stayed for a while at Veterans Village in San Diego, which offers support and housing to homeless veterans. Sitting in one of their counseling rooms, she told me her story. She says she signed up for the Marines at age 18 to get money for college and for a chance to see the world.
Sage was deployed to Iraq in 2003. Her assignment was with a maintenance platoon. On convoys, she says she witnessed some terrible things, things she says a no girl should ever see. Then one day, while inflating a huge tractor trailer tire, the tire blew up and the metal cage that was supposed to protect her came loose and hit her on the head.
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